​My dad loved gadgets. I remember my mother's frustration every time dad brought a new gadget home. "Helen, look what I just bought! I'll show you what this can do...isn't that something?" Dad had a true appreciation for innovation and the next new thing to hit the store shelves. He was excited about buying a Mac when the bright colored ones were released, and he couldn't wait to bring home his first laptop. I also have another vivid memory of my father at the front door talking to some poor soul who was taking a survey or asking him a personal question. I would hear him say countless times, "well, I don't think that's any of your business." Although he loved new gadgets, he highly valued privacy. He refused to get a grocery store rewards card because "they have no business knowing what I'm buying, or when I'm buying it." Dad passed away two years before the release of the first iPhone. Before he ever got hacked. Much has transpired since 2005, and I often wonder what he would think today with the evolution of social media, and the creation of many smart products and widening networks capturing huge amounts of data on our lives, habits, purchases, and using that data to motivate us in one direction or another. Would he still be so excited about the next new thing? The Internet of Things (IoT) is great innovation - some pretty awesome things, I admit, but is security keeping up with its growth? How secure are we, really using these devices? I have had the opportunity to work for two companies that have made great sensor products. Asset tracking sensors helped our military track their assets during wartime, temperature sensors monitored refrigerated transportation to insure freshness of fruits and vegetables, sensor locks on containers strengthened port security, and high value assets like organs for transplant were closely monitored for temperature, movement, humidity and location on its way to the recipient. These products, and many more help people, the larger society, and the world, no question. Consumer products like smart phones, smart watches, smart refrigerators, personal assistants, driverless cars, are pretty exciting, but they also widen the net of potential invasion by those who want to do us harm at a scale much larger than a personal hack, especially when they are communicating back and forth. Seventy percent of IoT devices contain serious vulnerabilities according to an HP study. Where there are communication networks, there is potential exposure. If security doesn't lead the way to insure our protection, then we are in for trouble. Innovation moves fast. Does it move faster than sufficient and sophisticated security to protect us? Companies that develop and provide these cool products need to be smarter than the smart products they're releasing and prioritize security, discover weaknesses, and insure the public that using these products will insure privacy and security. I am a lot like my father, I have come to realize. I love the cool new inventions, even the idea of driverless cars sounds amazing to me. I also share his concerns about privacy invasion, but even on a larger scale. I want to enjoy the Internet of Things, but not at the cost of totally losing my privacy and worse, harming our country.